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... ea of having to attack Omaha, but he knew it had to be done. Rommel took full advantage of what he learned from defending frontal infantry assaults during the First World War. He heavily mined the coastline, and the shore.
He placed extensive amounts of barbed wire leading up to the hills. He placed machine guns at angles to have better shots at all points of the beach. He also added all types of weapons to cover all possible weaknesses in the German posts. He added mortars and artillery pieces on top of the hills to bring more firepower from above.
Rommel's setup allowed for enemy fire coming from three different directions. There were four main factors which led the Americans to believe that an attack on such a difficult position would succeed. Intelligence reports gave the Americans the impression that the command posts and trenches were being manned by the 716 th Infantry Division, a supposed low quality force composed of Poles and Russians. This was, however, untrue, as the positions were being held by the German 352 nd Division, a section of well-trained troops. Second, intelligence reports gave the Americans the impression that only 800 troops were manning the defences, when in actuality, a number three to four times that was more realistic. Third, B- 17 bombers were to thoroughly prep the site by dropping thousands of tonnes of bombs.
However, due to the intense cloud cover, bombers missed their targets by as much as 5 kilometres. Finally, the invasion was to consist of 40, 000 men and 3, 500 motorized vehicles. This idea later failed as troops and vehicles became backed up on the beach. Allied Captain Walker on a landing craft headed toward the beach commented on the sight, "I took a look toward the shore and my heart took a dive. I couldn't believe how peaceful it was, how untouched, and how tranquil the scene was. The terrain was green.
All the buildings were intact. The church and steeple were still standing in place. Where are the damn Air Corps!" The plan for Omaha was to have assault teams cover every inch of beach. Weapons used to cover the successive landing crafts were to include. 30 caliber machine guns, bazookas, 60 mm mortars, and flame throwers. Just like the assault on Utah, DD tanks were to lead the invasion ashore while Naval demolition teams worked to clear the area.
Following the initial craft were to be reinforcements to bring up stronger firepower ranging from greater numbers of M- 1 's to 105 mm howitzers, in addition to more tanks, jeeps, medical units, head quarters and communication units. Two hours after this first wave, it was planned that vehicles would have already scaled the hills and begin to push farther inland. Unfortunately for the Allies, nothing for the assault on Omaha went according to plans. Only one group (or company) had landed at their target, Company A. Company E was as much as two kilometres off course due to winds, waves, and strong tides.
This resulted in large gaps between the forces coming ashore and allowed the Germans to concentrate their firepower on the smaller group of American forces. The Germans streamed a steady line of artillery, mortar, and machine gun fire down onto Company A. Needless to say, it was an slaughter. Only a few dozen people of the original 200 survived, and practically all of them were wounded.
By 6: 40 a. m. , just ten minutes after the first wave, only one officer from the Company was alive, and he had been shot in the heel and the stomach. On one particular Allied boat, when the ramp was dropped, every single man of the thirty-man assault team was killed before they could get out. A short way down the beach, Companies F and G were having troubles of their own.
Sgt. Harry Bare describes the experience as they disembarked, "I tried to get my men off the boat and make it somehow to the seawall. We waded to the sand and threw ourselves down and the men were frozen, we could not move. My radioman had his head blown off three yards from me. The beach was covered with bodies, men with no legs, no arms - God it was awful. " It was clearly evident as wave upon wave of troops came ashore that everything was in complete and udder chaos. People were being butchered left and right by machine guns, and literally blown to pieces by artillery and mortar fire.
Bare continued to say, "Sgt. Clarence Robertson had a gaping wound in the upper right corner of his forehead. He was walking crazily in the water. Then I saw him get down on his knees and start playing the rosary beads. At that moment the Germans cut him in half with the deadly crossfire. " (D-Day, Ambrose 337) "When we were 200 yards from our landing point I could see heavy machine-gun-bullets cutting up the sand and making a noise like a huge swarm of bees. "My God, we are going to be slaughtered. " - Sgt. H.
M. Kelly (Lewis 120) Omaha Beach on that day was in a state of pandemonium. There was no organization which was proven as the troops found themselves pinned with no leadership and no where to go, with additional equipment and troops coming ashore to only back things up worse. The Americans were pinned on the beach. German Commander Rommel had constructed the ultimate killing field, and for a few hours, it seemed like it was going to take a miracle to save the Americans. It was becoming ever more evident to American commanders that if they remained on the beach, it would be suicide.
After several hours of fighting, the Americans had only a few yards of beach, and it was under intense enemy fire. Under these hellish conditions, heroes were produced. Brigadier General Norman D. Cota deliberately exposed himself to enemy fire while walking up and down the beach, rallying his troops to get them moving. Colonel George A. Taylor performed a similar feat in leading an attack against a German machine-gun post while declaring, "Two kinds of people are staying on this beach, the dead and those about to die.
Now lets get the hell out of here!" (D' Este 114) As the hours wore on, a greater foothold on Omaha was established. The American Forces knew that it was imperative that they get off the beach. As more and more soldiers began to make their way forward, reinforcements continued to arrive bringing tanks, engineers, and more troops. Soldiers, lacking order and organizations began working together to establish routes up the hills. One by one, barbed wire was blown clear, German gun stations were destroyed, and artillery was eliminated.
By the end of the day more than 2, 500 Americans lay dead on the bloody yet still victorious beaches of Omaha. D Day, June 6, 1944 was the beginning of the end of the Nazi empire. It was one of the most important days in military history as General Eisenhower's cross channel attack, the largest in history, proved to be an overall success. The actions of the American soldiers on the Utah and Omaha beaches that day greatly aided in the triumph of the operation as a whole. They had no idea of the death and destruction which awaited their stepping foot onto the beaches.
For a few hours on the morning of June 6, 1944, it appeared that Rommel had created the ultimate coastal command post. His strategic placements of machine guns, mortars, and artillery pieces took a tremendous toll on the American invaders. For a time, it appeared that the Americans were not going to make it off the beach. If not for the courage of a few individuals leading the way, all could have been lost. Their actions played a critical role in the success of D Day, and of the ultimate demise of the Nazi Empire. Even through all of the factors which went wrong that day, and even without the aid of today's military technology, they made the invasion possible.
The status of the free world today can be directly related to the actions of every American soldier who set foot on the beached of Omaha and Utah that day. They will forever be heroes.
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